


Leave it to the Professionals

by divisionten



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Dream Eater Riku (Kingdom Hearts), Dream diving, Found Family, Gen, Nightmares, vanitas just wants to be left alone ok?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:28:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27516103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/divisionten/pseuds/divisionten
Summary: In the aftermath of the events at the Keyblade Graveyard, Riku's left to clean up a few messes. He finds an odd partner in an even odder place.Terra and Riku dive into their friends' dreams to quell the last remaining nightmares (Written before playing MoM, no MoM content/spoilers, and will likely be retconned by MoM).For Lico.
Relationships: Aqua & Terra & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Riku & Terra (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 48





	1. Thith Thuckth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LicoriceRoll](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LicoriceRoll/gifts).



> HEY GUESS WHAT TIME IT IS?
> 
> Nanowrimo! I'm working on both this AND more chapters of Monkey and the Torii as my Nano this year! Chapter 5 of Monkey is done, it's just in edits, and chapter 6 is mostly done too! So expect a lot of fic in the next few weeks.
> 
> Treat this one like my Sora Heart Hotel fic I wrote before KH3 came out- interesting old premise taken to extremes, and likely retconned immediately by the game that's coming out.
> 
> I don't care, I just want more Dream Eater Riku. Okay?
> 
> Ok!

Riku sat on the bed, picking at dried skin. For a moment, he felt the ghosting of claws, realizing he’d picked at a nail base until it bled. Running his tongue around the inside of the mouth- yep, there they were.

 ** _Fangs_**.

He wondered what his eye color had changed to.

Riku stretched and stood up, tail swaying and a pair of small bat wings flexing on his back as he loped to the mirror, half a mind just to sleep it off before it faded again.

“R-Riku?”

The teen jumped at the sound, wings flapping in shock, giving him enough magical flow to levitate himself a meter off the floor. The color drained from Riku’s skin as he flung to the sound, his left hand still trickling a little from the scratch he’d given himself.

“Therra,” Riku said, lisping through his fangs. “Ith okay. I’m fine. Ith’ll pass.”

Terra just looked up, blinked twice, and grabbed for Riku’s left arm. “I… no, not that. You’re hurt.”

Riku had enough heart to look embarrassed, letting himself down to the floor. “I can cath Cure, you know,” he said, like a petulant child, trying to pull his arm out of Terra’s iron grip.

“Better than me, I’m sure,” Terra rumbled in his baritone. “But no, let’s get the nail clippers. When’s the last time you’ve actually taken care of them?”

“Thaken care oth…?” Riku echoed, before he was practically dragged along by Terra, his tail bouncing behind in an effort to regain some semblance of balance down the polished halls of the Land of Departure.

* * *

“You need to take better care of these, Riku,” Terra chided as he yanked off the boy’s gloves and pointed for him to dunk his hands in a bowl of magically heated water. Riku glared at the basin to cool a bit when Terra wasn’t looking; magic was never the older Keyblade wielder’s strong suit anyway.

“Are you theriouthly lethuring me about getting a manicure?” Riku asked incredulously.

I **_am_** seriously lecturing you about keeping up with keeping yourself in best form,” Terra replied. “You can’t be good with a blade if you don’t mind your body. And I’m not touching your calluses,” he added, addressing Riku’s confusion. “But the dead skin and the picking distraction needs to go. The last thing a Keyblade wielder needs is any sort of distraction when they’re in the field. Also? Your eyes just changed color. Should I be concerned?”

Riku went pink, folding his wings behind him as he ducked his head. “Dithpothition changed.”

“What?”

Riku sighed, opened his mouth wide, and talked slowly so the fangs wouldn’t get in the way. “My dis-po-si-tion changed. What color?”

Terra kept silent for a while, just observing the silver haired teen. “Yellow.”

“Oh.”

“You’re not…?”

“No,” Riku insisted hastily. “Ith not from darkneth.” Riku swallowed some saliva and slowed down to articulate. “Not from dark-ness. It… a dream eater thing.”

“I thought you were just practicing world heart magic,” Terra said, eyeing Riku curiously. “Like Aqua can do. I had no idea you were a Dream Eater.”

“It happened the lath time I went and dove in hearth.”

Riku knew how big his hands had become, those long nights of holding a sobbing Kairi, her hands like a child’s inside his own. Yet here he felt like a small child himself, palms engulfed by Terra’s grip as he aggressively took a pumice to the dead skin, avoiding the calluses built up by years of combat.

“You bite your nails too, don’t you?”

“Yeth.”

“Well, stop,” was all Terra said on that matter. Riku understood. He wasn’t the type to use two hundred words when two would suffice.

“I know,” Riku admitted. “I’m worried.”

“About Sora?”

Riku simply nodded.

“Does this happen when you worry?”

“Ith random. And sometimeth, I hear hith voice. I… think I’m just hearing things to feel better. Or worth. I don’t know which.”

“Worth or worse?” Terra asked, giving Riku’s hand a squeeze.

“Secondth one.”

“Riku,” Terra said quietly. “You… know what happened to me, don’t you? My body, taken by Xehanort. My heart, bound to be his shield. And my soul, heartless and body less, bound to my armor.” Terra touched his pauldron with a hand, looking down at it. “I… a few times since that business we all had at the Graveyard… I’ve woken up as my armor. I suppose I’ve been out of my body so long my connection isn’t really all there. Aqua and Ven helped me until I could put myself back together.”

“What… do they do?”

“Sit with me, remind me I’m real. Hold my hand.” Terra sighed, deflating a little. “I can’t feel it or anything like that, but it’s helped. I just worry now, what if next time I can’t put myself back together? But you know what Aqua and Ven told me?”

“Hm?”

“They said they don’t care. If I’m a suit of armor, or a heartless, I’m me. What I look like doesn’t matter. They’re my closest friends. And you’re done, Riku.”

“I’m not afraid of not changing back,” Riku admitted. “I appreciate the thympathy.”

“Oh.” Terra looked a little lost with himself. “I guess I misread the room.”

“Ith okay,” Riku admitted, wings fluttering behind him as he looked at his hands. They felt a lot better at least, and the loose skin at the base of his nails was all cleaned up. “Thankth, though. I needed that.”

“Uh,” Terra said, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment as he sat up and busied himself with putting away the tools, sanitizing them with a blast of dark fire that almost burned off one of his eyebrows.

“You know,” Riku said with a laugh as he realized what Terra was really trying to do. “Normally, if you’re trying to cheer up a friend and you do it wrong, the neth thing ith to ath what the matter ITH.”

Riku laughed, pulling his knees to his chest. Him! Telling someone else how to handle social situations properly! It was almost too funny, until Riku was reminded of what Terra had said moments before- he had spent a decade ripped into three broken pieces. Being somewhat bad at social situations was honestly the best one could expect of the poor man.

“Thorry for laughing.”

Terra smiled warmly. “Not at all, and, at the very least I feel a bit less… concerned.”

“How tho?”

“Your eyes are pink now.”

* * *

“So a manicure isn’t enough?” Riku asked, eyeing the wooden buckets Aqua was filling, handing two with steaming water to Terra. Ventus was already sprawled out on a folding chair, pants rolled to his knees, feet in a bucket up halfway to his calves, and snoring loudly enough to wake the denizens of the next three planets over.

“It’s called taking care of yourself,” Aqua said dryly. “Find somewhere, and meditate for thirty minutes. Dinner will be done after, and then more training until the first comet in the sky.”

“ ** _Meditating_**.” Riku looked over his shoulder to Ventus.

“For you, yes. The three of us are still recovering.”

Riku laughed. “Fair.”

Aqua raised an eyebrow, saying nothing.

“Your eyes are pink again,” Terra hissed at him, when they found a good place to plop down, take off their boots, and rest their aching feet in the blessedly hot water.

“Ah,” Riku replied. “The eye thing is… almost always there. It’s the rest that comes and goes.”

“So, I’m going to take your advice. What **_does_** bother you?” Terra asked.

“Well, my Dream Eater form is for protecting Sora. I’m his Dream Eater, specifically. The fact that it manifests means he’s in trouble. And… I can’t do anything about it. Either he really is in trouble… or my mind makes me think he is. I guess.”

“Well,” Terra said after a while. “You keep changing into it, yes? Then he’s still out there fighting.”

“That’s what worries me more,” Riku admitted quietly. “I’m afraid it’ll **_stop_**. And what that means, with it.”

Terra frowned. “And you can’t go like that on command?”

“I can… if I concentrate. But that doesn’t make me feel any less like there’s a barbed knot in my stomach. What if I stop randomly transforming? What if Sora is gone? What if he…”

“What if they forget about me, what if they don’t recognize me, what if I’m not needed, what if I’m a monster, what if my body is the thing that kills them, Xehanort, wearing my face,” Terra cut in, near a whisper. “I suppose I don’t want to keep ending up as that armor, because my body is still there, lost in sleep. And I worry I might never wake up.”

Riku nodded. “And if **I** wake up, then the dream ends. Ow,” Riku winced, as his wings unfurled out of his back again. “Twith in one day, thath a record.”

“We have the exact opposite problem,” Terra mused, looking at his friend as the younger Keyblade wielder wiggled in his seat to adjust for the added appendages. “But we have it for the same reason.”

Riku just nodded.

“Well, how about this? Next time I’m my suit of armor, maybe you can help dive in my dreams? I could use a Dream Eater. I’m sure Aqua could too, Lux knows I wake up to her screaming from nightmares. And you can keep it up. So that when Sora calls for you, you’re ready.”

“I’d… like that,” Riku admitted. “Could uth the practith.”

“Does anyone else know?”

“Kairi. Yen Thid. Mickey.”

“Do you mind showing Aqua and Ven?”

Riku thought about it a while. “No. Ith okay.”

“Then we have a plan.”

“I’m here to train anyway,” Riku said, grinning, fangs in full display. “Might ath well help.”


	2. Terra: The Endless Path

“I didn’t know you could do world’s heart magic, Riku.” Aqua said, brow raised in surprise as Riku sheepishly tried to make himself comfortable in the high-backed wooden chairs in the castle’s ornate dining room. It felt a bit empty with the four of them occupying one end of the table and ninety percent of it left empty, but that was a banquet hall for you.

“Ith not,” Riku explained for the second time that day. The fangs were just getting annoying. For once, he wanted to turn back quickly. Thankfully, Terra picked up on Riku’s irritation and offered to brief the two other inhabitants while Riku figured out trying to eat without biting through his lower lip. He’d never tried eating transformed before. Eventually Terra finished, the cavernous room echoing with the last of his gentle baritone.

“Riku, Riku, Can you fly?” Ven asked excitedly.

Riku sighed, opened his mouth, holding the corners of his lips away from his teeth and spoke slowly. “I can. But can’t you? Fairy dust and all that.”

Ven sulked a little. “Yeah but it’s not the same thing!”

Aqua glared. “Don’t make Riku talk right now, Ven. You can pester him later when it wears off.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Riku smiled lightly at that, grateful for Aqua’s intervention. He didn’t want to cut off Ven’s curiosity, that was certain.

“Pink again,” Aqua noted, looking at Riku. “Your eyes change with your mood?”

Riku nodded.

“What does yellow mean?” Terra asked.

Aqua and Ventus both side eyed Terra with a bit of a shiver. “Yellow?” Aqua asked flatly. “Darkn-”

“ ** _Annoyed_** ,” Riku offered. “Nothing more.”

“Pink is happy?” Aqua asked, to a grunt of agreement. “What other colors?”

“Purple, blue, green, all I’hve theen,” Riku admitted. “And my own teal if I’m not feeling anything throng.” Riku winced as the wings and tail ratcheted back in with a bone crunching slurp. “And it’s over.”

“Did that hurt?” Aqua asked, concerned.

“No. Just a bit sore, like I over-exercised. Stretching and a hot bath does the trick.”

“Anything else I should know?”

“My eyes can just change color whenever, now,” Riku admitted with a shrug. “If I have yellow eyes please don’t assume I’m possessed.”

“You know how to handle your darkness,” Terra said with a nod. “Even if you did succumb, I’m sure you’d pull yourself back out anyway.”

“Kind of you to say,” Riku commented dryly, like he’d actually done so before.

* * *

Riku shot up in a cold sweat. Something wasn’t right. He ran a tongue over his teeth- no fangs- and touched below his shoulder blades. No wings.

So… not him.

Quietly, he slid out of bed, padding down the polished tile in pajamas and bare feet, following where his heart led.

“Terra, we’re here, we aren’t going anywhere.”

That was Ventus’s voice, strained, worried, but attempting to project a false air of confidence to mask the concern.

Riku knocked on the door. “Can… I help?”

He heard the sound of cloth shifting, then a scrape of metal on metal. “You can come in.”

Terra’s voice, tinny and bouncing around as if it were inside a metal ball.

Or, as he saw when he opened the door, a suit of armor, sitting at the edge of the bed. Terra’s body lay in it, sound asleep, with a ghosted outline of a floating heart over it, the way people looked just after a Heartless devoured them.

The armor curled in on itself, gauntlet-hands digging into the kneeplates with Aqua and Ventus, bagged eyes and rumpled hair, each holding an arm like they were clinging to a raft in a storm.

“Did I?” Riku asked, coming closer. “Did I do this?”

Lingering Will, the armor, **_Terra’s soul_** , shook its helm. “It’s been more frequent. Almost every night now.”

“I… I’d be scared, too,” Riku admitted, squatting to place his hands over the gauntlets. “Are you sleeping? Or are you ripped in two?”

“We don’t know,” Aqua said quietly, clinging to the armor. “We just… talk. Wait. Eventually his Keyblade armor collapses back into his pauldron and he wakes up.”

Riku’s eyes flicked to the sleeping body still under the covers. “Well, you’re breathing.”

“What if I stop, though?” Terra asked, voice cracking.

“Well, **_hm_**. I know we said I should practice my own powers, what say I start with you?” Riku asked, smiling a little. “If you’re asleep, I can go in.”

“If I’m not?”

“I’ll just get booted out. No big deal. Do you want me to try? I’m warning you, though. I might see everything. Fears, memories… **_everything_**.”

The armor helm shifted upwards. “Do it. I’m not sure I have much to hide.” Slowly, Lingering Will uncurled, patting Aqua and Ven on the heads before reaching out an arm to Riku. “I know if anyone could, it would be you.”

Riku relaxed, thinking of his sleeping powers, before feeling the familiar weight on his back. He swished his tail, flapped his wings, and reached into the depths of his heart to call forth his Keyblade.

“Watth him for me,” Riku commanded, lifting the weapon up, aiming for the shimmering hole above sleeping man’s form. “Back thoon.”

* * *

Riku fluffed himself up, flapping his arms and taking stock of his bitty bat body. In the dreams itself, he could take any form, but staying as a little spirit gave him a lot of leeway to poke around, and didn’t raise suspicion if any hostile Dream Eaters were present. He could always make himself look like… well, like himself, if he wanted. But for now, he stayed with his small puffball komory bat aspect, at least until he deemed it safe.

“Hello?”

Riku flinched. The noise was too loud, and tinny. **_Terra_**. Well, Lingering Will, at least, by the metal bowl effect the armor had on the sound.

“Terra?” Riku asked back. The room he ended up in was too dark to see, but his echolocation gave him enough a picture. It was a spiral, and he was at its apex. Things jutted out into it, probably a stairwell; it seemed to descend forever.

“Riku? Where are we?”

“Hang on,” Riku muttered. “Light!” He allowed his magic to well through him, feeling the static at the tips of his wings, exploding out in every direction, illuminating the space.

And blinding himself, like an idiot. Riku flapped, his body, a puff of fur, exploded outwards from the static charge. Kairi would probably have called it cute. He just thought of it as the worst possible hair day.

“Bat! Bat monster!” Terra cried. Riku felt air rush past a wing as Terra’s Keyblade almost sliced it off.

“That’s me, Terra, don’t hit me!” Riku called back in agitation as he heard the telltale explosion sound of a Keyblade being dismissed. “I uh… accidentally blinded myself.”

“You… you know what you look like, right?” Lingering Will asked, concern dripping through the metallic undertones.

“I’m a bat,” Riku said nonchalantly. He let off a burst of high pitched sound, pinpointing Terra, landing neatly on a shoulder tucking his tiny feet under himself to rest comfortably. “I’m adorable and non-threatening,” he added, completely deadpan.

Giant fingers ran through his fur. “You look like one of Aqua’s craft projects. A pom-pom with eyes and neon paint exploded all over.”

“Sounds about right.”

“Can you see?”

Riku shook his head, which was basically his whole body. “Still no. But I can echolocate. We’re in a big… column. With stairs around the edges. It’s spiraling downward.”

“We’re in the castle,” Terra corrected. “Standing on the ceiling. The walls all sort of spiral inward. It’s warped, like a funhouse.”

“Is it safe for you to walk?”

“As far as I can tell.”

“Do you… mind if I camp on your shoulder?” Riku asked. “At least until the stars are out of my eyes.”

“Of course not,” Lingering Will said, affronted, fluffing him absentmindedly. “Ven would have a field day with you, you know.”

Riku adjusted himself on his perch as the armor shifted under him, jumping and sliding carefully down into the spiral, gravity changing on a whim, pulling the pair up, down, and sideways until Riku let go.

“I’m going to be seasick,” he complained. “I’ll just fly.”

“Are you sure?” Terra’s voice pinged around Riku’s head in three different directions. His eyesight was slowly returning, at least.

“I’m sure.”

“Wait…” Terra added. “Why don’t you have a lisp? You have fangs.”

Riku laughed, and felt the world in the dream lurch around him. He heard Lingering Will clank and bounce, the whole room had rotated in a cylinder like a giant puzzle lock.

“We’re in a dream and you’re asking me how I can talk,” Riku said, opening his eyes to full clarity, the self-inflicted flash finally worn off. “Wait. Wait. Terra. How did you not notice?”

“Notice what?” Terra asked, standing up, overhead and upside down relative to where Riku was flapping to stay aloft in this cylindrical spiral of a world.

“You’re neon pink.”

* * *

Lingering Will sat on the wall, next to one of the attached sconces, and finally had the intelligence to look himself over. “I’m pink.”

“I suppose,” Riku mused, “this is how your mood expresses itself. Since you, er, don’t exactly have eyes. Do you have eyes?”

Terra’s armor clinked a little, shifting, and pulled on his helmet. The inside was empty. “Guess you could hide in here if you needed to,” Terra offered.

“Pass,” Riku said dryly. “And you have a Dream Eater mark on your back, too. It’s er, well, easier if I show you.” Riku did a lazy swoop in midair and showed off the back of his body to the armor. It made something of a screeching noise.

“You have to be joking,” Terra’s hollow voice reverberated. “Aqua said she saw that on my armor the first night. We were worried it was an Unversed symbol, but when we looked through the photos taken of them the following day…”

Riku burst out laughing, falling sideways to land in Lingering Will’s lap. “Terra,” he wheezed. “ ** _Terra_**. You’re not disassembling… well, you are, a bit, but… You’re just a Dream Eater. Like I am.”

“A Dream Eater? But whose would I?” Terra started, confused, helm peering down to the puffball resting below, wings curled inwards in mirth.

“Aqua’s,” they both said in unison.

* * *

After a few more moments for Riku to get the silliness out of his system, Terra finally raised himself upright. “All right then, I’m a Dream Eater. Weirder has happened. Then how am I in my own dream?”

“You are still disassociating,” Riku said, adjusting to perch back on the armor’s shoulder like a colorful budgie. “You’re only Terra’s heart, or just the soul. Probably the heart? Your body’s asleep and the other piece of you is what’s dreaming… probably. Yen Sid would know more than I do. So… uh. For the sake of not referring to both of you as Terra?”

“Lingering Will,” the armor replied.

“Will,” Riku said, clipped. “I’m not wasting four syllables calling for you in the middle of battle. Unless you’d rather that shortened to Lynn or something.”

“So what do we do?”

“Well, first, we fix your-slash-Terra’s nightmare. And then I guess I train you. If you went through all the effort of being a Dream Eater, well, then Aqua’s in a bad way.”

“I couldn’t save her last time.”

“No offense,” Riku replied as Terra slowly began descending to the bottom of the corkscrew hallway, “she can rather save herself.”

“I don’t…” Will huffed out, trying to articulate it correctly. “Not because she’s a girl, or anything like that. She’s strong. Stronger than me. Always has been, probably always will be. But… even the strongest can’t do everything alone. I could at least hear Xehanort and the Nobodies prattle for the last ten years. She had no company but darkness.”

Riku bounced, gripping the shoulder guard with his talons. “I was down there for a while…” he admitted, as the walls, floor, and ceiling began to converge as they descended, messing with gravity further. “But I was never there alone. I couldn’t even imagine.”

“I don’t want to **_save_** her,” Will admitted. “I just want to be there for her. As she’s always been for me.”

The bottom of the chasm fell open under them, exploding into a widening pool of light.

* * *

When Riku blinked out the stars from his eyes ( ** _again_** , he groaned internally), they were on a cliffside, stars streaking across the sky, and training rings set up along the path.

“It’s the outside of the castle,” Riku remarked.

“Looks normal,” Will agreed. “But if this is what’s at the bottom of the warped hallway…”

“Yeah, stay on your guard.”

“You’re not going to change?”

“I will if I need to use a Keyblade,” Riku replied, determined. “My magic is actually stronger like this, though.”

Will grunted in reply, rumbling through the metal, as he stepped forward. “You’re too lazy to walk.”

“Excuse you, but it’s two AM. I’m **_tired_**.” For that, Riku got his fur fluffed, and he found himself chirruping before he knew it.

“Small and non-threatening,” Will echoed, scratching Riku under what might have been a chin.

“Heya, mister!” Both boys whipped their head to the sound. A young boy with brown hair tied back in a high ponytail, wearing an outfit like Master Eraqus bounded up to them. “Cool Keyblade armor. But is that a Heartless?”

“No, no,” Will rumbled, lifting Riku off his shoulder with his opposite hand. “This is a Dream Eater. He’s a good guy. He chases away nightmares.”

Riku chirruped, playing the part of a dumb animal as the boy nervously looked at him.

“Aw, Terra, you can’t be scared of a bat, can you?” a snotty girl’s voice asked. As if on cue, a young girl in blue hair and long hakama came out of the mists of the dream, pushing her way forward.

“A bat?” the boy, presumably a young Terra, asked. “Don’t those turn into vampires?”

“Vampires turn into bats,” the young Aqua replied matter-of-factly. “But that doesn’t mean all bats are vampires. Like how all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares. **_Duh_**.”

Riku kept his mouth firmly shut as Aqua pushed forward to cuddle him. “See?” she said. “It’s a big softie. Like you, Terra,” she added, elbowing the boy before thrusting Riku in his face. “It’s basically a plush toy, go ahead.”

“Mister,” young Terra asked, concerned. “It’s not a vampire, is it?”

Lingering Will got down on a knee to talk to the boy at eye level. “Riku here does have an unhealthy craving for one thing. Strawberries. So, unless you’re a giant piece of fruit, you have nothing to worry about.”

The little Terra slowly, carefully, reached a hand out, plopping it straight down on Riku’s gigantic fuzzy noggin. “Oh!” he exclaimed, as he ran it along the mess of fur. “Soft!”

“See?” Will said. “Not scary.”

Terra shook his head. “No sir, not-”

Terra shot upright, grabbing his chest with a hand to see Aqua, Ventus, and Riku at the foot of his bed, all in their pajamas. “What?” he asked, both groggy and very much alert, flicking eyes between them in the dark. “Was all that… just a dream?”

“That’th the point,” Riku said, grinning with sharp fangs as he tossed Lingering Will’s discarded pauldron at the confused man. “Welcomth to the team, Therra.”


	3. Ventus: Wall Paper

“Wha- hey! Come on!”

Riku smirked from behind a hand, sitting cross-legged on the stone floor outside Yen Sid’s study. Terra was inside, getting looked over by the old Keyblade master, as well as a verbal lashing for not telling anyone sooner that his heart regularly left his body while he slept.

To Terra, Aqua, and Ventus’s credit, they had a right to be on a fragile and broken peace after everything they had endured. A lack of trusting authority figures was to be expected.

The only reason they’d allowed Riku to stay and train with them in the first place was thanks to Terra bequeathing his blade those many years ago. Kairi would have been given the same under Aqua had she asked, but she was off training with Roxas, Xion, and Lea. A proper teacher like Aqua would have been better for her; Riku and Kairi both knew. But she needed her own space to process things, and Lea seemed to be good for her.

What they didn’t have in Keyblade knowledge was more than made up for in general battle experience, tactics, real understanding of Heartless and Nobody behavior, and a surprisingly healthy family unit. The Sea-Salt Squad, as she’d so lovingly named her three Keyblade compatriots (along with Isa, who greeted their return from daily training with cooking Kairi had forgotten she’d loved from a world she remembered only in passing) had some problems to be sure, but it seemed like they’d already worked out the kinks in their little family before Kairi joined them on their doorstep.

The three wielders from Departure, however…

“OW, hey!”

Riku shifted slightly. The stone floor was hard and cold, and hardly comforting, but it was barely a price to pay compared to all Terra and Aqua had endured.

* * *

“Riku, if you could please come inside. I’ve put Terra to sleep and his Dream Eater half has manifested.”

Riku jolted upright from a half-slumber, stretched, and slowly opened the study door. Terra was asleep on a cot, his armor sitting on the edge of the bed, shining a gentle silver.

“How are you feeling?” Riku asked Will.

“Anxious,” he replied. “I guess that’s silver, then?”

Riku nodded. “You were gold last night, which is why I didn’t even realize you were a Dream Eater.”

“Yellow for you may be annoyed, but if my nightmare said anything, I think it’s fear for me,” the armor answered with a nod.

Riku nodded; Lingering Will gently patted the space on the cot next to him. Riku inhaled and sat down, flicking his eyes between Terra’s sleeping form and his heart inside the empty armor.

“You doing okay?”

“Not… really,” Will admitted. “But I feel better knowing that this is just something I can do.”

Yen Sid crossed his arms, glaring at both of them. “Two humans becoming Dream Eaters isn’t a coincidence. It’s a pattern.”

“What do you mean, Master?” Riku asked.

“I think it may be a reaction to what happened to Sora. I would not be surprised if other friends of his began manifesting this skill as well. And unfortunately, while I have had personal experience with Dream Eaters as my time as a Keyblade Master, I lack the firsthand experience you possess. Riku, it falls to your shoulders should there be more. You will have to train them.”

“Where? How?” Riku asked, puzzled. “I suppose we could practice inside Terra, it seemed fairly safe.”

Yen Sid shook his head. “You were only inside a small section of his dreams. You two are lucky that you ended up where you did. The core of his dreams isn’t attached to the Land of Departure; its Hollow Bastion. And that sleeping world inside his dream is not safe.”

“A memory of Xehanort in there?” Lingering Will asked.

“Precisely. I saw it in the flash when you drew forth from Terra. I highly suggest you find someone else who is willing to let you use their dreamscape to practice before you dive back inside. And for both your sakes, I suggest you stay far away from Aqua until you deem yourselves ready. Are we clear?”

“But what if-” Will asked, hands curling on his knees.

“Riku, you know Sleepza, yes? Until you two are ready to deal with the reason Terra’s heart became a Dream Eater, use it. It’ll give her a night of dreamless sleep at least. Your compatriots won’t need to stay up and calm you down anymore, at the very least.”

“Er, yeah,” Lingering Will admitted. “I know why this is happening now,” he admitted, gesturing at himself. “They don’t need to calm me down at night anymore.”

“Very good,” Yen Sid said with a nod. “If you two prefer I watch over Terra’s body and whomever you choose to dive into while they dream, I can prepare a room here for that purpose. At the very least, let me know when you have found a suitable participant. Terra’s Heart, I will wake you up now, unless there is anything else?”

Lingering Will shook his head. “No, I think that’s it.”

Yen Sid nodded, pointing his wand at Terra’s sleeping form. “Sleep well, child,” he said quietly, before zapping him with Esuna.

The armor collapsed in on itself, the pauldron clinking to the ground as Terra shot awake, blinking out stars. “How long ‘till I get used to that?”

Riku shrugged. “Beats me, I don’t split to turn into a Dream Eater.”

* * *

“Welcome back!” Ventus chirped at them, all smiles. “I don’t see any frowns, so good news?”

Terra chuckled, mussing Ven’s hair. “Well, not bad news, or good news. Just news.”

“Tell meeeee,” Ventus whined.

“Let’s wait for Aqua, ok?”

“Come oooooon,” Ventus whined as Aqua stepped out from the side of the upper balustrade, sliding on a beam of light down to join the group.

“Well, I waited!” Ventus said proudly, throwing his arms open to show her off.

“Fine, fine,” Terra grunted, smiling as Aqua took one of his hands to squeeze. “Yen Sid looked me and my Dream Eater form over. I’m just fine. Though I can’t access my Dream Eater while I’m awake like Riku can. When I sleep, my heart can attach to my keyblade armor. It’s unsettling, but it doesn’t seem like it’ll cause problems. You two don’t need to stay up with me anymore.”

“That’s wonderful news, Terra,” Aqua said, pulling him in for a full hug. “Well, not the armor bit.”

“If Riku can suddenly sprout wings and fangs, I think I can manage,” Terra replied fondly. “But Riku and I need a place to train. Someone who doesn’t mind us going in their dreams.”

“I… wouldn’t mind,” Aqua said, though the hesitation belayed her fear.

Riku coughed, trying to think of a way to butt in on the moment without feeling like an intruder. Aqua looked up, nodding sadly. “Yen Sid said no, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, he said I should be using sleep magic on you until we think we’re prepared to go in your nightmares.”

Aqua frowned. “Very well. Hm, what if you two asked Kairi?”

Riku shook his head. “I hate to say this, but she’s worse. I’ve tried going in, after… after we lost Sora. It’s not safe. I haven’t seen yours to compare, but hers may be just as bad. Isa has been using Sleep magic on her almost every night just to make sure she can rest.”

“I… see.”

“What about me?” Ventus asked. “I haven’t had any nightmares, not that I can remember. Right, Chirithy?”

A two-and-a-half foot catlike plush popped out from behind Ventus; Riku almost jumped out of his skin. “ ** _What the_**.”

“Oh right,” Terra said, chuckling. “You two haven’t met.”

“I’ve been training with you guys **_three days_**! How have I not-”

“Hello,” the small creature said pleasantly.

“You **_talk_**?!?” Riku asked flabbergasted. The creature placed its hands on its hips.

“You enter dreams, and **_me talking_** is a surprise?”

Riku chuckled, shook his head, and squatted to Chirithy’s eye level. “Okay. Fair. But why haven’t I seen you?”

“The first day when you were unpacking, I came down to say hello,” Chirithy admitted. “But I saw you with fangs and wings, and a tail, and yellow eyes, and I got really, really scared. So, I ran and told Ventus.”

“You knew?” Riku asked, eyebrow raised, eyeing the blonde.

“Well, I didn’t believe it at first,” Ventus pouted. “When he came back and told me, I ran to your room, and you looked totally normal.”

“I wasn’t transformed when I was unpacking…” Riku said, lost in thought. “Chirithy, do I have wings now?”

He nodded. “But your eyes are green.”

“I guess you see my Dream Eater form all the time then?”

Chirithy nodded. “Suppose so, I **_am_** tied to dreams. Not in the same way you and Terra are, though. I didn’t realize that’s what you were. Or Terra. I would have said something sooner.”

“So, if you’re tied to dreams…”

“Ven’s dreams, yes, and they should be safe. Ventus doesn’t really dream. I’m not sure he can, not anymore at least. It’s just a white void.”

“That sounds as good a place as any to practice,” Terra said. “So long as you don’t mind, Ven.”

“I… really don’t think it’s a great idea,” Chirithy added, grimacing as much as he could with his soft form.

“What?” Riku asked. “Why not?”

“I… oh, its nothing. Just… don’t break the walls.”

Riku eyed Chirithy warily. “The walls?”

“Forget I said anything. Think of it as me… getting the wrong first impression. I’m sorry I thought you were a monster.”

Riku smiled weakly, patting the creature’s head. Chirithy seemed trustworthy, but he was also hiding something about Ventus. Riku would bet his Keyblade on it.

* * *

“No sleep magic for you,” Terra said, mussing Ventus’s hair. “We need you to try and dream.”

“You sure you’ll be okay?” Ventus asked.

“Dying in a dream isn’t like real life,” Riku said with a smile. “If there is anything bad in there, we’ll just get booted out. If you do have a nightmare, the only thing that’s going to hurt is our pride. Honest. Take it from someone who has died in a dream before.”

Ventus made a face. “That still sounds scary.”

“Oh, it is,” Riku admitted. “But we’ll be fine. Is there anything I can get that’ll help you fall asleep?”

“Steamed milk?” Ventus asked. “I dunno. Usually I conk right out. Now that I have to sleep, it’s like I don’t want to.”

Chirithy laughed. “I’d help, but same problem. You need to fall asleep on your own.”

Ventus reached across the bed, pulling the creature close. “Pillow.”

“Okay,” Chirithy groaned. “I’m soft and warm. I can be a pillow.”

Riku smirked. “I’ll go to the kitchens and get that drink. Hopefully, he’s out before I’m back.”

Chirithy grumped under Ventus’s death grip. “For my sake as well as yours.”

* * *

Yen Sid looked over the group. “Aqua is resting dreamlessly. Ventus is out like a light.”

Terra nodded. “I should turn in, then. Riku, would you do the honors?” Terra walked to one of the beds set up in Yen Sid’s tower, flopping in. Riku hit him with a powerful sleep spell, and in the blink of an eye, the pauldron left on a small end table near Terra’s bed began to unfurl into a full set of armor. Riku got to work himself, rolling his neck and shoulders in preparation for his wings to explode out his back. He wiggled his hips as his tail swished, and worked his jaw until it finally relaxed, teeth settling in place.

Lingering Will stood next to Riku as they both drew Keyblades on the sleeping blonde, an irritated Chirithy trying and failing to wiggle out of Ventus’s iron hold on him.

“Oh bother,” he muttered, ears folded inward. “I’m stuck. You two better be gentle in there.”

Riku just flashed the creature a small smile as he and Will unlocked Ventus’s heart.

Xx

“Chirithy wasn’t joking,” Terra remarked. “There’s nothing here.”

“I can see, you know,” Riku replied, flapping to tread air. But Terra was correct, there wasn’t much in Ventus’s sleeping mind, a room, roughly the size of Terra’s bedroom laid before them, entirely bare. The floor, ceiling, and walls were an almost blinding white, with no doors or windows to speak of.

“Are you really going to stay like that?” Will asked, staring down Riku, in bat form.

“Would you prefer this?” Riku asked, shifting. Where there had been a neon bat, now stood a neon deerlike creature. “Now I’m a Yoggy Ram.”

“Who comes up with these names?” Terra asked. Riku attempted a shrug, before lowering his head to Terra, gunning for him at alarming speed. Riku flung Lingering Will into the far wall, cracking the chestplate a little in the process. “Oof,” he complained, pulling himself back up, healing the cracks. “You hit like a truck.”

“Fight me,” Riku demanded, bowing his head, shaking it in preparation for another charge.

“Wait, hang on, Riku, do I have to be armor?”

Riku relaxed his stance. “It’s a dream, Terra. Just relax yourself and you can change. See?”

Effortlessly, where there had been the ram moments ago now stood Riku, but as a child. Riku grinned. “Wouldn’t hit a kid, would’ya?”

“Now you’re just playing dirty,” Terra groaned, as Riku pulled a wooden toy sword from nothing, stepped forward, and with his darkness, teleported to close the gap and began wailing on Will, juggling the armor in the air before curling the blade to curve their trajectory, sending the armor crashing to the floor.

The pieces separated out, scattering. Riku looked down at them wide eyed, shifting his body to what it looked like in reality. “Will! Will, are you okay?” he cried out, running to a piece. “Say something!”

Riku bent over one of the gauntlets, nervously putting a hand on the featureless white floor. “Will! Terra! **_Whatever_**!”

The gauntlet floated a moment, before gently slapping Riku across the forehead, chuckling. Slowly, the scattered pieces began to draw inward towards the pauldron that was the source of the Keyblade armor, putting itself back together.

“Okay, I thought that might work,” Will said, once he lifted up and screwed his helmet back in place.

“Gave me a heart attack, you did,” Riku grumbled, looking over his shoulder as Terra’s human form replaced the armor, Lingering Will flexing fingers as he looked himself over. “And if you do that trick looking like **_that_** ,” Riku added, standing up and dusting off his jacket, “honestly, I’m not sure what I’d do, but I’d do **_something_**.”

Terra drew his Keyblade to him, drawing it on Riku. “Shall we?”

“Moving targets, then,” Riku sighed, relaxing back into his bat form. “Most Nightmares aren’t humanoid. If you won’t transform into anything other than your armor and human forms, you need to at least practice fighting Nightmares.”

“Fair,” Will admitted. “One step at a time.”

“Point,” Riku admitted, with a full body nod. “En garde!”

* * *

“Riku, you’re too fast,” Will whined, winding up for another crushing strike only to meet air.

“No,” Riku replied, flapping out of the way. “You’re just too slow. And your movements are easy to predict. I know you can do a ton of damage when you do connect, but I can see the direction a mile off.”

“You’re… not wrong,” Will agreed. “I need to change up my style.”

“Try calling a different Keyblade,” Riku suggested. “Yours are all practically claymores. Try creating one like Aqua’s or Ven’s. The lower weight should improve your speed. Even if you can’t use them in real life, well… **_ack_**!”

Riku found himself flung in the far wall, smacked fast by Master’s Defender. Will gave an awkward smile as he adjusted the grip on the light and unfamiliar weapon.

“Nice,” Riku muttered, blinking stars from his eyes as he cast Cure on himself.

“It feels like a toothpick,” Lingering Will noted, taking a few more experimental swipes at the air. “Wait, Riku.”

“Hm?”

“Move aside for a minute.”

Riku shook himself out and flapped over to perch on Will’s shoulder. “Oh, huh.”

The far wall- where Riku had been smacked to- was peeling at the seams.

* * *

“Chirithy said don’t break the walls.” Riku looked at the crack, trying to peer through it.

“He did,” Will agreed, gently shoving the giant floating pom-pom aside to peek through. “It’s… home.”

“Curiosity killed the Necho Cat, Terra,” Riku insisted, pushing with all his weight to peek in himself. “But… it’s your best friend’s mind. If he’s got nightmares even he can’t reach, it might be worth it to fix them. We bolt at the first sign of trouble.”

Lingering Will nodded. “Should I stay looking like this?”

“Best not, if Ven is dreaming of the Land of Departure, he may have a dream Terra inside.”

“I don’t know what any other Dream Eaters look like,” Will admitted. “And the armor won’t work; Ven would recognize that.”

“Hm. Do you know of someone from another world that might have stumbled into yours?” Riku mused. “You could look like Lea.”

“I’ve got it!” Will said, grinning, nearly disappearing in a blink of an eye. “How’s this?”

Terra shrunk down to about Riku’s current size, blue-furred and six-limbed, pulling at an orange jumpsuit and hopping around on his back two legs in a bid to check out his handiwork.

Riku laughed. “Cute and non-threatening, good. You’re learning.”

“You have never met six-two-six have you?” Terra asked under his breath as he crawled up the wall to start tearing at the blinding wallpaper, slowly ripping away at the opening.

* * *

“Terra! I see you sneaking into the pantry!”

Lingering Will winced as Riku chuckled under his breath. “Aqua’s not talking about you, dummy.”

“Still reflexive.”

“Sweet tooth?” Riku asked, landing on Will’s head as the two snuck through the castle.

“Huge. Though I know Ven also sneaks snacks; he always just blamed it on me. Aqua goes easier on me than him though, so I never minded. And watch those talons around my ears, that tickles.”

“Stealth mode activated,” Riku stage whispered back, adjusting his footing as Terra crawled straight up the side of the wall and on the ceiling. He followed Ven’s dream of Aqua down the hallway by the sound, nearly falling off the ceiling when he caught sight of her.

Three Unversed were nipping around her legs. Like **_pets_**.

“Don’t,” Riku admonished.

“But!” Lingering Will protested. Aqua flung her head towards the sound; Terra scampered behind a chandelier.

“Huh,” she said aloud. “Terra, have you been doing any magic in the Great Hall?” she shouted louder, to the adjoining kitchen where the dream Keyblade wielder was probably stealing more food.

“I know I can be dumb sometimes, but I’m not **_that_** dumb,” he shot back. Will winced again.

“Ven really thinks that?” he whispered to Riku.

“You’re not exactly great with magic,” Riku admitted.

“I’m not stupid enough to fire off what I do know indoors- well, wait, that’s also what dream-me said,” Terra sighed aloud, resigned. “I suppose Ven’s not wrong. I could use some practice.”

Riku held back a burst of laughter.

“Huh,” Aqua said aloud, peering to the chandelier overhead. “I could have sworn I heard your voice being thrown from the ceiling.”

“You know I’m barely good at basic magic, advanced things like that aren’t my style,” Terra admitted, walking into the hall with a plate full of snacks. Aqua glared at him but said nothing about the pile of sweets balanced awkwardly on the little piece of dessert china.

“Vanitas!” Aqua hollered. “Stop playing pranks this instant!”

Riku was so shocked, he let go of Terra’s head, and tumbled to the ground.

* * *

Riku came to, staring down three sets of eyes. Aqua, Terra, and of all people Vanitas, loomed overhead, the black-haired boy frowning with the back of his hand pressed to Riku’s forehead.

“Well, it came to, and it’s not attacking,” Terra offered. “So, if its not a Heartless, and its not an Unversed, what is it?”

“Its confused,” Vanitas offered, squatting, brushing back Riku’s puffball fur with a hand. Or, at least, Riku assumed the boy was Vanitas; he had Sora’s face, red eyes, a surprisingly deep voice for someone who looked roughly fifteen or sixteen and was wearing an exact copy of Ventus’s clothing. “I don’t think it’s going to hurt us. Mind if I take it back to my room to look at it?”

“Just… be careful, Vani,” Aqua admonished. “I know you have a way with creatures, but…”

Vanitas grinned. “I’ll holler if it’s a problem. Come on, batty, let’s get you healed up.”

* * *

“So, Riku,” Vanitas spat, arms crossed as he sat irritated on his bed. Riku having been deposited in a plush chair next to his desk. “Mind telling me what you’re doing in here?”

Riku curled in on himself, trying to figure out how to respond.

“And you, Terra. Under my bed. Don’t think I didn’t see you sneak in with me when I came in.”

The comforter rustled a bit, as Terra scrambled out from under, glaring Vanitas down. It would probably have been menacing if it weren’t so adorable.

“How’d you know?” Riku asked with a sigh.

“I saw your human-ish Dream Eater form through Ventus,” Vanitas admitted. “Same wings. And I knew you were coming with Terra to train so…” He swept a hand downwards at Terra. “My Unversed tell me if Six is visiting. They can hear his ship. No ship, not Six. Not too many other options.”

“And you’re willing to hold a conversation with us?” Terra asked, flabbergasted.

“Would you rather I sic my Unversed on you?” Vanitas asked, eyebrow raised. “I got what I wanted; I returned to Ventus. After Sora kicked my rear to kingdom come, I woke up here. Ven’s Chirity put up the walls between our dreams, for my benefit, and his. Go ahead and try and fight me; its my dream and your funeral.”

Riku shook his head no. “You seem happy. I know a thing or two about second chances.”

“Hmph. The you in the Org said something similar.”

“Is that why you’re sparing us?” Riku asked.

“I’m sparing you because I can’t actually kill you,” Vanitas admitted, poking Riku’s plush body with a long finger. “It’s no fun if its not a real fight anyway. However you got in here, though, you’d better fix it. I’m not sure what would happen if the wall between me and Venty-Wenty broke completely.”

“We can do that,” Riku admitted.

Vanitas grinned sharply. “Then get out.”

* * *

Riku and Terra stared at the tear they’d caused from Vanitas’s side of the dream. “For all his bravado, he could have just booted us,” Riku noted, as he shifted to what he looked like in reality, if only to have hands to run over the breaks in the dream worlds to seal them shut. He could finish locking it off with his Keyblade once the wall had been plastered properly.

“Why didn’t he?” Terra asked, eyes flicking constantly back to the castle grounds in the distance.

“He’s happy,” Riku said, simply. “He’s found a place to belong, even if it is only a dream. This isn’t a nightmare; this is peace for him. He has a family.”

“His dream is… me and Aqua?” Terra asked incredulously. “How would he even know about us?”

“How do you think? I spied on you for years. I’m all negative emotions. Fear, regret, and ohhh, jealousy’s a nice big heaping of negative, ain’t it?”

Both boys whipped around, spying Vanitas hanging upside down from a crabapple tree. Two Flood unversed were taking turns standing on each other’s backs to try and reach for fruit.

“You know,” Vanitas added, watching Riku as the silver-haired teen sigh and return to fixing the seam, “talking about people behind their backs is rude.”

“Our backs are turned,” Riku noted.

“Touché, goody-two-shoes.” Riku smirked and was suddenly barefoot. “Oh great,” Vanitas drawled. “we have a comedian.”

Riku took one more swipe, sealing the two dream states from each other. “We’ve done our part. Just… don’t possess Ventus and we’ll leave you be.”

Vanitas raised an eyebrow. “You’re not even going to try and fight me?”

“Why should we?” Riku asked, kicking Terra gently. “Right? We stay out of this one.”

Terra grumbled, but slowly nodded. “Riku is right. You don’t possess Ventus, and I’ll leave you alone.”

Vanitas fell out of the tree.

“What, were you expecting a fight?” Riku asked. “We could use the training.”

Vanitas barked out a laugh. “That bad, huh? Well, if you ever come back here, I’ll be sure to give you two a good thrashing. Deal?”

Riku smiled, holding out a hand. “Looking forward to it.” Vanitas stared at it like it were a venomous snake about to bite.

Terra eyed the two teens warily. “You’re supposed to shake.”

“Ugh, don’t tell me what to do,” Vanitas hissed, spitting in his hand before thrusting it to Riku. “Now scram. Aqua baked and I want some before you steal it all.”

“Wait,” Riku said, as Vanitas turned heel on them. “I want to make sure. You’re okay with us coming back? We won’t if you don’t want it.”

“Ugh, fine, yes, do I have to spell it out for you nitwits?” Vanitas said, throwing up his arms in an overexaggerated display. “You want a welcome basket too?”

“Your word is enough.”

Vanitas whined loudly and disappeared off in a dark corridor, his Unversed popping off with him, leaving Riku and Terra standing there.

“Do you think Ventus knows?” Terra asked quietly.

Riku nodded. “I think he does. Chirithy does, that’s for sure. And anyway,” he added with a loud yawn, “your body is asleep, but I need some shut eye. Come on, let’s get out.”

* * *

Riku yawned and rolled his neck. “Go back in your body, Will,” he whispered. “I need a few minuteth to get rid of my wingth and streth out. No need to waith for me.”

The armor clinked as it bowed slightly, shrinking back in the pauldron. For a moment, Terra’s body groaned in slumber as the iridescent empty heart floating over the covers vanished, then he turned and immediately returned to snoring. Yen Sid nodded at Riku, looking up from a book.

“Done?”

“Mhm.”

“I’ll leave you be, then. I hope it was fruitful.”

Riku just nodded and yawned as Yen Sid left the makeshift bedroom. Riku glared down Chirithy as he slowly returned himself to normal. “Does Ventus know?” he whispered at the creature, awake and resigned to being smothered by Ven, covered in a line of drool, no less.”

“Know what?” Chirithy replied back in a tone that clearly implied feigned ignorance.

“Wallpaper.”

Chirithy sighed. “He knows. He was the one who asked Vanitas to come home with him, after all.”

“As long as he’s okay with it, Riku said, eyeing the sleeping boy. “Terra and I are going to go back in again though.”

“Whaaaat?” Chirithy asked; Ventus stirred a little but did not wake.

“We were invited,” Riku said with a shrug. “I can’t be rude to our host, can I?”

“Just… be gentle,” Chirithy muttered, as he was pulled into an even tighter hug. Riku eyed Terra, deep in sleep as well.

“We’ll try,” Riku admitted. “Can’t say the same for the dream, but we’ll try.”


	4. Vanitas: The Inverted Pillar Trial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how is this chapter as long as the last three combined????
> 
> it got so long I split this in TWO.
> 
> this was supposed to include a new dream world but it just kept going.
> 
> brain needs to slow its roll a bit

Yen Sid steepled his fingers. “So, Ventus is a safe place to continue training?”

Terra nodded. “He doesn’t have any nightmares, and his dream people are friendly. We’ve actually been asked back.”

Yen Sid nodded slowly. “Good, good. I feel confident that you can practice back at home. When you’re prepared to enter Aqua’s nightmares, however…”

“We’ll be back,” Riku said, bowing slightly. “I appreciate the extra set of eyes.”

* * *

“Ven, got a min?” Riku asked, sprawled out on the grass, letting his bone mend after Terra smashed his arm in. Riku had always been fast, but he had to contend with physics in the real world; he’d be the first to admit he let his confidence get the better of him. Terra had many years on him with a Keyblade, lest his now Cure-mending arm forget.

“You okay?” Ventus asked plopping next to Riku, looking at the bent arm in disgust. “You should use some Blizzard after that heals; unless you want a purple shiner for a week.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Riku groaned, before changing the subject. “Uh. We saw your dream last night. Your - ** _ahem_** \- **_other_** dream. **_Vanitas_**.”

Ventus’s expression stayed a quiet neutral, like he was forcing his face to not belay his feelings. “And?” he asked quietly.

“He invited us back. For a quote-unquote **_thrashing_** ,” Riku said, grinning. “I’m pretty sure it was his way of saying we were welcome in. He could have just tossed us out.”

Ventus collapsed in a heap on the grass. “Thank goodness,” he breathed out, his features relaxing as he rambled. “I… I know it was selfish of me to invite him in, and then I didn’t tell Aqua or Terra. Sora didn’t just keep me safe all those years, he kept Vanitas safe too. That’s why they look alike. I couldn’t leave him with nowhere to go. He’s not a bad person, he just… doesn’t know how to people.”

Riku nodded, understanding exactly what Ven meant. “So, he just hangs out in your dreams?” he asked, slowly pulling himself upright. “Do you talk?”

“Not really,” Ventus admitted. “Chirithy put up a mental block between us, in case our hearts get too close. Neither of us wants to find out what happens if we try and merge. Chirithy passes messages between us, and I know if Vanitas is up during the day he can see what I do. He tends to sleep during the day, so he can be awake at night while I dream.”

“Chirithy said you don’t dream?” Riku asked curiously.

“I mean…” Ventus sighed, flicking his eyes, looking for Aqua or Terra in sight. “I do, but not for me. Vanitas is in **_my_** dream. I have his. He’d be bored if he knew everything that was coming.”

“That’s why its just a small white box,” Riku remarked. “Vanitas is up at night, so nothing’s there. Well,” he added, stretching and casting a weak blizzard spell to prevent his arm from bruising now that it had mended, “he seems to be very happy with your dream. It’s just the castle and grounds, with Terra and Aqua.”

“He’s happy?” Ventus said with a small smile. “Chirithy said that he said ‘well, it could suck more’, so I took that as the best I could do.”

Riku stood up and shook the grass off his pants. “I think he just needs to learn how to say thanks, that’s all. You’re doing fine.”

“Terra’s okay with it?”

“You should ask him yourself.”

“Should I… tell Aqua?”

Riku frowned. “That… I’m not sure. Wait until Terra and I have taken care of her nightmare. I think telling her now might make things worse for her. You three were just reunited after all. Oh, and Ven?”

“Hm?”

Riku shook his head. “Actually, you’re not the person I should be asking. Not first. Once Vanitas gives me his answer, then I’ll ask.”

Ventus tilted his head to the side like a puppy. “Oh?”

“Nothing bad, but it really has more to do with him than you.”

Ven nodded, understanding. “Yeah, if it has to do with him, talk to him. Riku?”

“Hm?”

“Thanks.” Ventus drew forth Wayward Wind, readying it. “Aqua said I’m supposed to practice aerials with you until dinner.”

Riku groaned. “I haven’t flown in ages,” he whined.

“Oh?” Ventus asked mischievously.

“I mean **_without_** being a Dream Eater.” Riku drew Braveheart, pointing it below him, casting Aeroza to send himself skyward, Ven following, leaving a trail of fairy dust in his wake.

* * *

“Whoa, whoa,” Vanitas hissed, yanking Lingering Will by the cape, practically dragging him into his bedroom the minute that Riku and Will landed inside Ventus’s dream that night. “You can’t go around here looking like that.”

“Thanks for the warm welcome,” Will grumbled dryly.

“Moron, its for your own safety. Terra might start attacking if he sees you as a fake.”

Will put up a finger to argue but decided against it. Technically he **_was_** the fake in this dreamscape. “Okay, fine. How should we look?”

“You probably don’t want to go around as Unversed,” Vanitas thought aloud, flicking eyes to the doorway. “Why are you training in dreams anyway?”

“Aqua,” Will said resolutely. “She’s been having nightmares and I want to go in there to quell them.”

“You probably want a keyblade, then,” Vanitas said, eyeing Riku’s puffball form. “Riku should be fine walking around looking like himself, but **_you_** need a disguise.”

“Can’t you just… dream that your Terra doesn’t come near us while we fight?” Will asked.

“We’re not in Vanitas’s dream,” Riku piped in, working hard to dial back the smugness that was creeping into his tone. “This is Ven’s.”

Vanitas frowned. “He blabbed. **_Traitor_**.”

“He was also concerned you didn’t like what he made,” Riku added, matter-of-factly, sliding in Vanitas’a desk chair in his normal human form. “You should tell Chirithy how you really feel. I’m sure Ven could change it if you asked.”

“Ilikeit,” Vanitas muttered.

“Sorry, didn’t catch that.”

“ ** _I LIKE IT, OKAY_**?” Vanitas hollered.

“Vani, is something wrong?” Aqua’s muffled voice asked from the other side of the doorway.

“No,” Vanitas replied, deflated. “My Floods are just messing with my hair.”

The group could hear Aqua chuckling from the other side. “Well, it’s getting long. You may like it, but you’ll either have to cut it or start tying it back soon.”

“I said the same thing to these nitwits,” Vanitas sighed out. “But they won’t leave me be.”

“Well, I can always give you a trim if you want it, Vani. Don’t forget, it’s your turn to make dinner tonight, so don’t train too late, okay?”

“Mhm,” Vanitas hummed loudly, listening for the clink of Aqua’s shoes as she walked away. He relaxed. “So.”

“Why would Terra attack me?” Will asked.

“Cognitive dissonance,” Vanitas explained, before rolling his eyes at Will’s confused shoulder shrug. “Ven’s dream still has some rules it has to follow. Unless **_he_** creates two of the same person, a duplicate is going to set off mental alarm bells. You’ll get booted. Same thing would happen if you made yourself look like Riku. One of the cognitions catches seeing two of you, they’ll try to clean up the mistake. It’s funny, you could walk out of my room looking like a dead man, and you’d be fine, but look like your armor or your flesh-n-blood self? Forget about it.”

Will put a hand to his chin. “I suppose I **_could_** pose as him,” he admitted, his shape changing form. “Would this work?”

Vanitas frowned. “Guess we’ll find out, **_Master Eraqus_**.”

* * *

“Why him?” Riku hissed, looking at the face of an older man, his long hair tied back, high.

“When… when I was just that suit of armor and just that creature bound around Xehanort using my body,” Will hissed back in a gravel-toned voice as the three walked down the hall towards the back gates, “ I said I wasn’t alone. I could hear and see everything… and a piece of our Master was with me too. His heart or his soul, I never had the courage to ask. He kept me sane. I’m a terrible actor, but I know him well enough to pass. More than, say, Lea, as you suggested yesterday.”

Riku nodded. “You okay with it though?”

“If it means I can practice with a Keyblade inside this space, I will manage. I would prefer not to look in a mirror, though.”

* * *

Will frowned, holding out Master’s Defender to Vanitas, who lazily summoned four different keyblades hovering around him. His own, Riku’s own old Way to the Dawn which Vanitas probably saw his dark past self use, Sora’s keyblade, and a final one Riku couldn’t place. The ‘key’ portion looked like a heart, with a chunk cut out.

Lingering Will charged, bellowing. Vanitas smirked, raising his arms, floating a few inches off the ground. Just as Will slammed his keyblade toward Vanitas’s chest, it bent in a giant U like a pool noodle, sending the larger man off balance, tumbling until his rear end shot up in the air and his head stuck a few inches in the muddy terrain below.

Vanitas frowned as he landed. “Geez, old man,” he grumbled. “Pull your punches, why don’t you? You look like you fell face-first down Crap Mountain.”

“If this is how you compliment, I can’t wait to hear your insults,” Riku smirked.

“Here’s my insult,” Vanitas boasted. “ ** _Piss off_**.” A solid blast of water exploded from the tip of one of the keyblades, washing off the mud, leaving Will a soggy mess, his ponytail slick against the back of his neck.

“I hope that was Waterga and not… something else,” Riku muttered, barely holding a laugh back behind a hand. Will blew a raspberry, the air pushing his wet cowlick away from his face, still trying to figure out if he should be incensed or laughing.

“You are a **_child_** ,” Will settled on saying, shaking himself off like a dog. “And if you’re insistent on giving me a car wash, finish it.”

Vanitas grinned. “Aeroza,” he hissed, sending Lingering Will skyward. A few air tumbles later, and a pair of Vanitas’s oversized raven-esque Heartless swooped in to gently glide him back down to the ground.

“Look, I know you’re huge,” Vanitas said, with all the swagger of someone who had the world wrapped around his finger, “but come on, dream here, you can fly. Use your imagination. You have one of those, don’t you?”

Will twisted his hands. “Er,” he started, before taking a large step back in panic.

“Oh, come on, I know I’m **_ever-so-frightening_** ,” Vanitas shot sarcastically. “But you can drop the act, Ter- ** _oh_**.”

“Master!” The dream Terra shouted, running up to Will, abruptly skidding to a halt, as if he wanted to hug him, but didn’t want to invade the space. “You’re home!”

Will grimaced, staring himself down. “Terra,” he said, half choking on the word, before adjusting his posture. “It’s good to be back.”

Vanitas raised an eyebrow, considering if and how to butt in to save Terra from his dream self.

“Master Eraqus!” Riku winced as Aqua crossed the muddy training grounds. “It’s good to see you back!” She too, stopped where Terra had, as if waiting for someone else to make the first move. Vanitas shook his head and bounded over, pulling Will in a hug that seemed more like a vice grip than a fond family embrace.

“ ** _Deal_** ,” Vanitas huffed to him under his breath, as Terra and Aqua joined them, pulling Will into their pile.

“Oh, we should all cook!” Aqua said, clapping her hands. “Er, rather, Terra and I will. You were training Vanitas, weren’t you?”

“Er, yes,” Will said, flabbergasted, trying to come up with some sort of excuse. “Apologies for not letting you know I was back.”

“It was supposed to be a surprise,” Riku said, smirking, trying to take some of the acting pressure off Lingering Will. “Guess we blew it.”

“Oh, ah, sorry!” Aqua said, face a little pink as she took a half-hop backwards. “Terra, let’s go in and make sure we cook for five. We saw nothing.”

Terra squinted at Will. “But Master is right- ** _oof_**.”

Aqua slammed her elbow into Terra’s chest. “Right. Fine. Let’s make dinner,” he conceded, eyeing the man who seemed to be Eraqus almost warily.

Vanitas sighed once the two were out of eye and earshot. “You should probably tell Ventus what you’re doing. His heart is trying to push out anything that might be an outsider. Can’t believe I’m saying this, but **_I’ll_** hold back, although if Terra and Aqua think you’re a threat…”

Riku nodded. “They’re Dream Eaters, like us. And if they think we’re hostile…” Riku transformed into a garish, gigantic elephant creature, then shrunk again.

“I don’t know if talking to him’ll make the dreams less wary of you two,” Vanitas admitted. “But it can’t hurt more than it already has.”

“What happens if Ven wakes up in the middle of the night?” Will asked. “What happens to you?”

“I get put back in my box,” Ventus said with an offhand shrug, mimicking the shape of a box with his hands. “Little dark room, stained glass. Usually, I’ll just knock myself out and sleep it off. Sometimes I spar the shadows.”

“That must be… incredibly lonely.”

Vanitas shrugged, hiding his emotions behind a sneer that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I’ll take **_lonely_** to the alternative.”

Riku wrung his hands. He wanted to wait some time before offering what he was planning, but looking at the boy who looked so much like his lost friend, all he could see was a scared child, lashing out because it was all he knew how to do. “Terra and I are going to head out, then. Last we need is Ventus’s dream going into self defense mode and you getting hit in the crossfire. But Vanitas, is this what you really want?”

Vanitas squinted, searching Riku’s face. “What are you asking,” he said flatly. “I’m not a fan of riddles.”

“I’m asking if you’d like me to call Even and Ienzo to make you a Replica. They pulled Roxas from Sora and Naminé from Kairi. I don’t see why they couldn’t do the same for you.”

Vanitas quirked an eyebrow. “You don’t trust me, I’m sure. What’s in it for you?”

Riku nodded. “I don’t, not yet. But being stuck and waiting inside someone else’s’ heart? I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

“I could run off the minute I have a body.”

“You could.”

“I could possess Ventus right now and you wouldn’t even know.”

“That’s true. Offer still stands.”

Vanitas twitched his lower lip. “Do what you want, I don’t care.”

“That’s an awfully roundabout way to say ‘ ** _thank you_** ’, Mr. I Don’t Like Riddles.”

“Piss off.”

“You’re welcome,” Riku said with a smug grin.

Vanitas deflated, shoulders sagging. “I’ll say thanks if you actually manage to follow through. Not a minute earlier.”

Will nodded. “I’ll hold you to that, Vanitas.”

* * *

“Ventuth? Ven?” Riku gently pushed Ven. “Don’th make me geth out the air horn.”

“Mwhuh?” Ven asked, yawning as he pushed himself up in his bed, scooting back until he sat upright against the headboard. “You two are still Dream Eaters,” he noted once he’d blinked the stars out of his eyes. “Did you die in my dream?”

“Not… no,” Will admitted. “But your inner Dream Eaters are suspicious of me. Vanitas suggested we talk to you, though I’m not sure how that might help.”

“It was a bit odd, I wasn’t going to put Master Eraqus in my dreams if I could help it. I’m not sure how Vanitas would take him.”

“You thaw uth?” Riku asked.

“Saw you? No… not really. But when I wake after dreaming, I can remember bits of the dream. I’ve been trying to practice lucid dreaming with Chirithy’s help, but since Vanitas is in them… it doesn’t really work. When you woke me, I just had this uneasy feeling that I’d lost control of my own dream for him. I was worried something went wrong.”

Riku frowned. “I’m not thure how to fix that,” he admitted, subconsciously rolling his tongue on his fangs. “Maybe juth knowing is enougth?”

“It can’t hurt, can it?” Ventus asked.

Will shrugged. “Is the worst thing that happens just us being kicked out?”

“Yeth, but… if hith dream fighth uth, we may never be able to get back in without rethiththance. **_Re-sis-tance_** ,” Riku added, slowly and carefully. “Bad enougth, and we’ll be kicked out on entry.”

“I can try, at least,” Ventus said. “I’ll do what I can.”

Riku and Terra nodded. “Let’s head back in while the idea is fresh. I’ll go get you some steamed milk.”

“Me too please,” squawked an irritated voice from under the covers. After a moment of wiggling, Chirithy’s head popped up. “And a cookie.”

Will chuckled, leaning forward to scratch Chirithy behind an ear. “Milk and cookies then. And then bed for you both.”

* * *

“We should get a baby monitor for Ven if we’re going to keep doing this,” Will said, eyeing Ventus attempting to get himself comfortable again in bed from the edge of the doorway.

“I heard that,” Ven whined indignantly. “I’m trying, okay?”

Riku chuckled quietly. “We’ll walk away for a bit.”

“You better,” Ventus muttered.

“Why don’t we wait in my room?” Will offered.

“You want to check on your body?” Riku asked.

“Perhaps.”

Riku stretched his wings, gliding silently down the hall as Will tried his best not to clatter behind him; Riku winced with every step as if it were a gong, or a gunshot.

“Thee? Thafe and thound.”

Terra slept peacefully, the crystalline ghosted image of a missing heart floating a few inches above the covers. Will tentatively reached out for his own hand, before closing the gap, squeezing it tight. “I’m not sure what I expected, but its warm.”

Riku landed, rolling his shoulders in opposing directions to loosen the sore muscle. “You can feel like that?”

“Enough,” Will replied, a sigh-like sound pinging through the hollow metal. “Inside the dream, it feels like I’m just in my body. Out here, though, it’s only bits and pieces, but I’m used to that.”

Riku nodded. “You thpent an awful long time like that.”

“That I did,” Will admitted, letting go of his own body’s sleeping hand, lifting the covers to place his arm gently back under them. “I wonder what happens if I wake myself up?”

“Try that another day,” Riku admonished. “I don’t want to have to put you back to thleep, too.”

Will shrugged. “Worth it to learn what happens,” he admitted, as he slowly reached for the ghosting of his missing heart floating over his prone form, recoiling as his gauntlet’s fingers brushed against it. “Well. I won’t do that again, at least.”

“Hm?” Riku asked.

“That stung.” Will shook out his arm, eyeing the crystalized air warily. “I wonder why.”

“If Mathter Yen Thid didn’t thay anything, he doethn’t know.” Riku folded his arms across his chest, watching Lingering Will hovering around his own sleeping body, a hair’s breath away as he observed his own self, seemingly out of nervousness and curiosity in equal measure. “Pleathe thop playing with yourthelf.”

“ ** _Phrasing_** ,” Terra teased.

“Yeah, yeah,” Riku muttered. “Will?”

“Hm?”

“When I told Vanitath he could have a Replica, you didn’t thop me.”

“I didn’t.”

“Why?”

“You know my heart was attached as a Heartless directly to Xehanort, yes?” Riku nodded. “I saw everything he did. Including how he scooped Vanitas’s heart from Sora.”

“Wait, what?”

Will collapsed onto the stone floor, patting the space next to him. Riku pulled a cushion from one of the desk chairs, and plopped down, letting his tail lazily curl around the pillow. “I don’t know all the details, but Sora ripped himself apart at some point. It’s what made Roxas. Sora’s heart, and Ventus, who we later found out was sleeping in Sora, well, Ven’s appearance. That’s why Roxas didn’t look like Sora. He’s technically made from two people.”

“He wath pulling Kairi’th heart from him.”

“Ah. And this is the event that created Naminé too, isn’t it?”

“I thuppoth.”

“Ven must have still been too intertwined with Sora for him to be extricated from that, but it did dislodge Vanitas.”

Riku chuckled quietly, shaking his head. “How many people did Thora even keep in there?”

Will shrugged. “Well, himself, Kairi, Ventus, Vanitas, and then I suppose Xion, Naminé, and Roxas were all byproducts of that split, or the fallout. There might be even more fragments than that. Only Sora would really know. But that’s seven right there.”

“If Vanitath cometh around, Thora could be hith own Theven Guardianth.”

“Oh, Lux, you’re right,” Will groaned. “Anyway… Xehanort collected up Vanitas. I wish I could tell you all the details, but I’d be lying if I said I was the brains of this outfit. Sciency stuff, and poof, there’s Vanitas, wandering around in a brand-new Replica body.”

“Your point?”

“I saw how all the Organization acted under Xehanort’s thumb. Old and new. Of them all, those who acted the most loyal- Sai’x, Vexen, so forth- they ended up being the traitors. I’m not the brightest out there, I’ll admit, but anyone who calls me an idiot is missing the point. I know Vanitas was lashing out because that’s all he ever knew. He’s what… what I would have been if Eraqus never took me in. Yen Sid said he saw Hallow Bastion for a moment when I came out of my body in his study, but I’d bet you munny to monsters that there’s another world hiding under even that inside my dreams. My birth home.”

“You’re not… from here?”

“Aqua and I were scouted. She’s from this world, originally. Her parents sent her here when they found out she could use magic. Master Eraqus found me while traveling the worlds. I was probably seven or eight at the time. I come from a place called Eorzea. It was… pretty bad growing up. My parents died, thanks to how we looked. I don’t remember much other than being cold, scared, hungry, and very, very angry.”

“How you looked?” Riku asked. “Wath it like Atlantica? Humanth and mermaidth living on the thame world?”

“More than that; many, many different peoples. Most of the various tribes seemed to be okay with each other, I think, not that I remember much from the adults talking. Whatever I was, though… it was a problem.” Will sighed, helmet facing the ceiling. “The only real vivid memory I have of home is half freezing in the snow, and someone pulling me inside a stone building. I was wrapped up in a sack and carried upstairs. I remember… I thought they were going to eat me or something. There was a lot of yelling, I think Master Eraquis was arguing with them. Eventually, a woman opened my bindings and pushed a blue glass bottle of gold liquid in my face, ordered me to drink it. I fell asleep, woke up as a human, and Master Eraqus took me away from there. I’ve never gone back.”

Riku nodded silently, fumbling for what to say in response. Eventually, the best he could settle on was a quiet, solemn “thankth for tharing.”

“I’ve never told anyone, not even Aqua,” Will admitted. “She’s the one who named me, you know. When Eraqus brought me here, I must have told her my real name, but she couldn’t pronounce it. She said she was the water, and I was the earth, so she’d be Aqua and I’d be Terra, and that was that. Anyway… if Ven’s not asleep by now he’s not going to fall asleep without magic. We should go back.”

* * *

“What did you two **_do_**?” Vanitas hissed, scruffing both Will and Riku, one in each hand. Riku was back to his comfortable puffball form while Lingering Will shaped himself like Stitch again just in case.

“What do you mean?” Riku asked honestly, adjusting a little under the pincer like grip but making no movements to flap free. “We did what you suggested, we talked to Ven.”

“The world opens back up,” Vanitas growled, “And they’re gone.”

“They… being ‘your me’ and ‘your Aqua’?” Will asked.

Vanitas nodded. “Now there’s just more of **_these_** things,” he complained, shaking Riku gently for emphasis. “Dream Eaters.”

“Shit,” Will hissed under his breath.

“Are they attacking?” Riku asked over his partner’s lapse in tongue.

“No.”

“Take us to them.”

* * *

The Great Hall, where they should have had a family dinner had things gone to rights, was teeming with an explosion of neon color, with beasts of every shape and size imaginable. Riku dislodged himself from Vanitas’s grip, flapping nervously around the teen’s head.

“There you go. **_Happy_**?” Vanitas growled low.

“Stand back, you two,” Riku admonished, flapping forward. “I’m going to attempt something **_profoundly_** stupid.”

“That’s new how?” Vanitas muttered under his breath.

Riku chose to ignore the remark as he bellowed. “Where is Terra? I want to speak to him.”

Half the Dream Eaters swiveled their heads in seemingly practiced unison to look at the awkward trio near the doorframe.

“ ** _Terra_** ,” Riku repeated louder, with more confidence, as the same half of the small, garishly pastel zoo nodded as one. “ ** _Oh_** ,” Riku voiced, as he realized what was going on. “When I said I wanted to speak to Terra, I assumed in my request he’d talk back.”

The half of the Dream Eaters that had responded to Riku’s calls began to converge in the center of the massive hall, smaller Dream Eaters writing over larger ones, until they formed one riotous mass of color, fur, feathers, tusks and scales. It exploded into confetti and an almost garishly childish congratulatory horn toot as Terra stepped forth, the remaining half of the Noah’s Ark sentry swarming around him as he walked forward.

“I had a feeling there were intruders,” Terra said, frowning. “Aqua and I monitor this world and keep it safe. Something was changing how Vanitas was behaving.”

“You don’t own me, and you’re not prison wardens,” Vanitas spat.

Terra smiled small. “You’re right on both counts. But we **_are_** your protectors, Vani. We’re not here to keep you contained, we’re here to give you a place to rest in peace.”

Vanitas snorted, breaking eye contact as he gazed downwards at his shoes. “You don’t need to tell me that.”

“I never said different was bad, Vani,” Terra continued, reaching forward to muss his hair. Vanitas grumbled but didn’t step away. “Just that it’s my and Aqua’s job to make sure you’re okay. A little outside influence is welcome, so long as it’s not malicious.”

“It’s not,” Will said, squirming, and talking in his own voice to the Dream Eater horde borrowing his face. “I already made a promise to Vanitas, one I intend to keep.”

Terra frowned, scrunching up his face. “Will you now? Care to show me your real face, then?”

“Which one?” Will asked, as Vanitas let him down on the floor.

“How you entered this space.”

Will sighed, and in a hair’s breadth, where there had been Stitch, stood Will in his gleaming hollow armor. Terra nodded appreciatively; the remaining Dream Eaters converged, molded, and exploded back to Aqua as he had.

“Two on two then?” Aqua asked, drawing her Keyblade.

“Excuse me?” Will asked.

“We’re Dream Eaters. We protect Ven’s dream from threats,” she said casually. “Let’s see then, if you’re worthy enough to be one.”

Riku shook himself off, forming into a Yoggy Ram. “If you insist.”

* * *

With a snap of her fingers, the Great Hall fell away to a small room of pitch black, the five standing on a cylinder topped with stained glass, a sleeping Ventus and wayfinders adorning the plate below their feet.

“Vanitas, pleas stay to the side,” Aqua admonished. “And do not interfere.”

“I’m going to have a serious talk with Ven tomorrow morning,” Will hissed at Riku.

“I’m sure your native Dream Eaters would do the same,” Riku muttered back. “At least his have the ability to negotiate.”

“En garde!” Aqua shouted, throwing them both into disarray as she unleased a flood of icy cold water. Riku slid backwards on the tide, pushed to the edge, saving himself an infinite fall by changing back into a komory bat at the very last moment. He flapped three times, reverted to his four-legged form, and charged.

“Will, I have Aqua,” he shouted.

“Who’s Will?” Terra asked confused, as Lingering Will pulled forth Master’s Defender, slamming him across the shoulder with it. For the merest of moments, Terra was brought to his knees.

Aqua turned, her glare deadly with a hint of Dream Eater cat eye flashing across her visage of one dared to look. Not that Will or Riku had the time to care as she flashed a grin, aiming her Keyblade for the floor.

“Blizzaza,” Aqua shouted, as a blast of pure frozen steam erupted below her, cracking the stained glass as it raced for Will. He gasped, unable to do much else as the wall of crashing, crackling ice lifted and carried him, pushing him and chunks of broken glittering glass and lead like the devastating force of nature it was.

Will was tossed aside like a ragdoll into the maw of the abyss below the platform.

Vanitas screamed something deep, primal, and angry as he dove off the side, propelled by little more than raw fury.

Riku felt his stomach (or what counted as one in a dream world) lurch upwards as the entire world flipped upside down, the partially destroyed column overhead and the depths of darkness below. Riku fell for only moments before he found himself slipping and bouncing.

It wasn’t an abyss, but a bouncy castle made of matte black vinyl. Riku almost laughed at the absurdity, taking a gentle bounce on the edge of his hooves before breaking into a running leap, hollering as he landed next to an equally confused Vanitas and Will, sending the pair flying up and back down to bob a little on the giant cushion below. Terra and Aqua laughed as they floated downwards to join them, the fabric rippling under their feet.

Vanitas glared, muttering obscenities under his breath as Aqua bent down to help him to his feet. The two twisted, rolling in the inflated fabric until Riku couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Vanitas was giggling, and it sounded **_almost_** like Sora.

Carefully, Riku turned himself to his normal appearance, bounding and rolling over to Will. It was childish, it was dumb, it felt exactly like the sort of harmless prank Ven would pull (he’d already been a victim to his table salt swapped for sugar by the blonde-haired gremlin), and it was… kind of awesome. Riku pushed Will with his shoe.

“You can’t make me get up,” Will whined.

“It’s fun.”

“Aqua blasted me into the abyss,” he pouted like a child.

“I mean,” Riku shrugged, “we went into Ven’s dream knowing his attack dogs might do it.”

“I resemble that remark,” Aqua shouted from a little further away, trying to pull herself upright as Vanitas grinned conspiratorially, summoning a small pack of Flood to drag her back down to the wobbling floor. “Ugh! Vani!” she huffed, before wriggling free to tackle him.

Will groaned. “Then what was the point?”

Terra flopped down next to Will, forcing him upright with a bounce. “It wasn’t your combat skill we were testing.”

“Vanitas,” Riku agreed.

A shock of black hair poked up through a small pile of wriggling Unversed. “What?”

“We’re just talking about you, you little cretin,” Terra hollered back to an exasperated, exaggerated whine.

“You were testing Vanitas?” Will hissed.

Terra laughed, shook his head, and clapped Will on the shoulder. “I am dense,” he sighed out. “No, we were testing if he thought you were worth saving. Er, basically, if we should kick you out.”

“I…” Will started, confused, wringing his hands for lack of anything else he could do. “We only met him for the first time yesterday since… since everything happened.”

“And you listened,” Vanitas reminded him. “You did more for me in five minutes than the old ba-”

“ ** _Language_** ,” Aqua reminded him.

“Than the old **_self-centered self-righteous bloated lying sack of Heartless excrement_** ,” Vanitas so colorfully corrected. “That the person I won’t even grace with a name ever did.”

“Come on, Terra,” Terra said, fondly, holding out his open arm to Lingering Will. “Ventus and Vanitas both agree its okay for you to be here. And try picking up one of the Floods. It’s like petting a kitten.”

“Mama cat hisses like one too,” Aqua piped in, messing up Vanitas’s fluffy hair to his chagrin.

* * *

“One eel pie for Master Eraqus, just as he likes it,” Aqua said, pushing a single serving pot pie towards an eye-rolling Lingering Will as he, Aqua and Terra collectively groaned out. “ ** _Burned_**.”

“It’s a dream, just pretend it’s not blackened to Hades and back and it’ll taste fine,” Vanitas stage whispered.

Will took a bite and grimaced.

“Never said who had to pretend,” Vanitas laughed into his rabbit stew.

“Co-conspirators,” Will grumbled as Aqua gave his serving dish a quarter-turn, revealing a perfectly cooked dinner. “The lot of you.”

* * *

“And how was your nap, Ventus?” Ienzo peered over the teen, scribbling in shorthand on a digital clipboard. Riku and Terra had been jumping into Ventus’s dreams to practice combat and keep Vanitas company for almost three weeks at that point, and if Aqua had any ideas about the latter, she certainly hadn’t shown it. Aqua, Terra, and Ventus, at King Mickey and Yen Sid’s requests, as well as Riku’s suggestion, given how Ienzo and his growing team had handled reviving Roxas and Naminé, were regularly getting checkups from the small group at Radiant Garden. Aqua was in another research room with Even, being checked for residual darkness, while Riku and Terra kept an eye on Ventus as he slept. They’d come up with the lie that they needed to make sure Ventus’s heart wouldn’t jump back out of him again, a lie made even more convincing as Ienzo had real concerns about the possibility.

“Okay. Did Vanitas say anything?”

“He asked me if he needed to talk. I said no, and he promptly put you both back asleep.” Ienzo attempted to divert eye contact, muttering into his notes. “He also gave me an obscene gesture as he did so.”

“My hand has been sullied!” Vanitas mock whined, holding his right hand in his left. “I am forever besmirched!”

“I’m not sure that’s how the language of old goes,” Ienzo said with a sly smile. “But the mental block has safely kept you and Vanitas as two separate beings. So long as he doesn’t try to wrest control while you’re conscious, he should be easy to extricate. I just want to be sure, though. You’re okay with this?”

“Which? Keeping Vanitas in my heart like a prisoner?”

“You know he’s dangerous.”

Riku narrowed his eyes. “You tried to kill me a few years ago yourself, Ienzo.”

“I… **_ah_**. I’d say ‘that was another time,’ but, yes, you are correct. I did. I defer to your judgement on the subject, then. If you deem it so, I will work with Even and King Ansem to have a vessel prepared. There’s likely still leftover pieces from Xehanort’s past selves at the Keyblade Graveyard we can use. If any are unblemished, there’s little extra work to do.”

Terra frowned. “I’m not going back there.”

“I’ll go,” Riku said with a small nod.

“I’ll go **_with you_** ,” added an irate rough woman’s voice from just outside the door. “If you’re going to be yanking him out of Ventus’s heart I’ll be present, please and thanks.”

“Aqua!” Ventus cried out, partially embarrassed, and equally concerned. Terra and Riku hung their heads in shame.

Aqua walked to Terra first, patting his shoulder, before striding to the reclining chair, kneeling to Ventus at his eye level. “I know why you didn’t tell me, Ven,” she said quietly. “But keeping secrets is just going to cause problems again.”

“How did you find out?” Ventus asked.

“About a week ago, I was walking past your room to get a glass of water in the middle of the night, and I heard you talking. I was worried you might be sleepwalking, so I went to check on you. Then Chirithy called you by a name I never wanted to hear again.”

“Vanitas?” Ven asked. Aqua nodded silently. “So, you snooped on their conversation?”

“Yes. Vanitas-” Aqua started, but Ventus raised a hand and cut her off.

“If he wanted to talk to me about it, Chirithy, Terra, or Riku could have passed on a message, they always do. The first thing I have to do is respect his privacy. He deserves that much.”

“You trust him **_that_** much?” Aqua asked, taken aback.

“You don’t get to say that, Aqua,” Terra commented softly.

Aqua turned, facing Terra, giving him a good long stare.

“I’ll have to agree, although you missed the time in which I was part of the Organization,” Ienzo added. “Riku himself gave me a stern reminder just before you entered.”

“Myself as well,” Even added. “And do not forget Myde, Lea, and Isa.”

“What if he hurts one of you?” Aqua asked, angrily.

“It’s **_how_** many to one?” Ventus asked. Aqua raised a finger to protest, slowly lowering it, as she resigned herself to the room’s decision. “That’s what I thought,” he added.

“I’ve never seen you this determined,” Aqua admitted.

“Sora didn’t just give me a second chance, he gave one to everyone in this room,” Ven reminded her, placing a hand on his chest. “And that includes him.”

* * *

Riku bounded on the cliffside, skimming the rocks below. “Look for an intact one first,” he reminded Aqua. “Otherwise, I know I saw part of an arm down that ravine.”

Aqua skimmed alongside on a sparkling road of light magic dancing underfoot, making a face. “I draw the line at handling pieces of corpses.”

“Then you’ll be fine,” Riku chuckled back. “If a heart isn’t inhabiting them, they’re like mannequins. No blood, no bones, kind of rubbery.”

“I’m not sure if that’s better or- **_oh_** , there. I see bits of yellow and black.”

“Glad the fight was here, the desert preserved everything.” Riku skidded on the rocks and let gravity slide him downward to the flat pillar where the final fight had occurred. “There’s two here.”

“We just need the one in better- oh, Hades, it doesn’t have a face,” Aqua scrunched up her features, trying to not look at it.

“Two, actually, if both are good. Looks like that one was Xehanort’s Heartless’s, and the other one must have been either his teenage form or his Nobody’s. No way to tell now that it lacks a soul. Aqua, if I could be so brash, why’d you come? This clearly unnerves you.”

“I… I don’t know,” Aqua said. “Or rather, I thought… I thought coming would help make me complicit in Ven’s decision. It seems like everyone is okay with it except for me.”

“Oh, Vanitas is dangerous, **_extremely_** dangerous,” Riku admitted, checking the cloak-clad replica for any visible damage.

“Then why is everyone so calm about it?” Aqua nearly shouted. “I don’t want to lose Ven again. I can’t… I can’t lose him again.” She faced away from the wind, letting out a howl of despair, falling to her knees as she sobbed. “I don’t know what would happen if I did.”

“Aqua?”

She didn’t speak, but she turned her head sideways, giving Riku enough of a glance for him to feel comfortable continuing.

“Because everyone in that room, aside from you, did horrible, horrible things to the people they loved and cared for. Some out of jealousy,” he said pointing to himself, “some, because they were literal children who didn’t know better- that would be Ienzo, he became a Nobody at six. **_Six_**!” Riku walked towards where Aqua was sitting, plopping down on the sandstone close enough that he could lower his voice but far enough away to not invade her space. “Even became blinded by his research as a Nobody. King Ansem did horrendous things, and never turned into a monster, except in his own heart, and all to fix what he thought were his own failures. And I won’t even start on Terra. If you can live among them, you can give Vanitas a chance. And… honestly, he needs it. He’s… hm. Ever run into a stray dog, hungry, and desperate, and alone? And if you go to try and feed it, what would a stray dog do?”

Aqua shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve only ever seen dogs traveling. There aren’t any native to the Land of Departure.”

“I don’t really have a better analogy,” Riku admitted with a sigh. “Okay, when dogs are abandoned, and in such poor shape, many will bite your hand if you try and offer them food or shelter. Lots were abused, and don’t trust people. You have to feed them and show them love for a while before they start to calm down. Some stay on edge their whole lives, but many eventually can be great pets… well. Vanitas isn’t a pet. He’s a person. But right now, he’s still pretty… er.”

“Feral?”

“I don’t like using that word for people,” Riku admitted.

Aqua pulled her knees to her chest. “Terra and Ven were both like that when they came under Master Eraqus’s care. Terra was a scared and angry thing, he was constantly bumping into everything and falling over himself like he had no coordination. It was… I didn’t have words for it at the time, I was probably eight or so, but it was like he was in the wrong body. He’d punch things and break them, his own hands included. And Ven? Ven was a zombie. He wouldn’t speak, and he didn’t look at you, but through you. He barely ate. It took myself, Terra, and Master Eraqus a week to get even one word out of him. I… call me selfish, but I do not want to mother again. Especially not for someone who might put a Keyblade to my throat.”

Riku smiled. “I’ve been pulled back from the brink enough times now. Let me and Terra work with him. You just promise to be kind. Even if it’s hard. **_Especially_** if it is.”

“I’m not sure I can promise that much.”

“Then walk away. Get one of us.”

“I’m going to have nightmares about… those things,” Aqua frowned, glancing at the replicas, still strewn haphazardly on the ground.

“You know I can cast Sleep magic for you until Terra and I are ready. Would you believe Vanitas is the one training with us?”

“Yes, because that’s what I overheard him talking to Chirithy about.”

“Well, I’m not Ven. What did he say about us?”

“He was worried. That Terra was having trouble thinking outside the box. He complained he couldn’t teach the unteachable. At first, I thought I just misheard Chirithy, but Ven… doesn’t get mad. Not like Vanitas did. He threw Chirithy clear across the room, looked up, I would assume saw his face in the mirror opposite Ven’s bed, and started sobbing.”

“Vanitas has… trouble displaying emotions correctly. He tends to run in extremes.”

“No, I’m pretty sure I’d have the same reaction if I looked in the mirror and saw someone else staring back at me.”

Riku frowned. “I did. For a year. Maybe I was just numb to it.”

“Maybe we should continue this another time. Let’s… get the bodies and leave.”

“Are you sure?” Riku asked, standing up to dust himself off before offering a hand.

“You’re the one who’s promised to parent him. I guess I can cook for one extra mouth.”

“He’s got a sweet tooth.”

Aqua laughed, huffed, and rolled her eyes. “ ** _Another_** one?”

* * *

Aqua leaned forward, kissing Ventus on the forehead. “Sleep well,” she whispered.

“They’re knocking me out for ten minutes, tops,” Ventus reminded her, as Terra snickered, leaning against the far wall.

“Still,” she said wistfully, missing up his hair.

“Oh, come on, are you trying to give me bedhead?”

“You have it perpetually, Ven.”

“Don’t need to make it worse.”

“So, you admit it,” Terra piped in.

“Ienzoooooo, they’re ganging up on meeeeeee!”

“I choose to abstain from family drama,” Ienzo said with a small smile. “Anesthesia or magic?”

“Ana-what?” Ven asked, confused.

“Magic it is,” Ienzo huffed.

“On it,” Aqua said, pulling her Keyblade from the aether. “Good night, Ven.”

“Good ni-” Ventus’s head lolled in the reclining chair as he passed out instantly.

Terra stepped forward, Keyblade pulled from his own heart. “I just point, right?”

“Mhm,” Ienzo said, more focused on a screen with Ventus’s vitals than Terra. “Vanitas’s heart and soul will try to jump to the nearest vessel, and should that fail, the nearest receptive heart. Ventus, most likely, though its possible he could enter any of us if something goes wrong. Given that none of us present are pure light like Ventus, I’m not concerned about any significant adverse reactions. We would just set up and try again.”

“I would prefer to not house someone else in me,” Aqua admitted.

“You may leave the room, if that concerns you, though the probability is infinitesimal.”

Aqua bit her lower lip. “I will stay.”

“Well, if there’s nothing else, Terra, I suggest you extricate Vanitas.”

Terra nodded, pointing his blade at Ventus’s chest, turning it as if opening a lock. A ball of angry, purple condensed darkness rose slowly from Ventus’s chest, taking Aqua’s breath away. It hovered, pulsing, before tying to descend back downwards into Ventus. Riku pulled his own Keyblade forth, sliding it like a barrier between Ven’s body and Vanitas’s heart and soul.

“Where’s the replica?” he asked brusquely.

“Here,” Ienzo offered, peeling away a white sheet covering a gurney a foot away from Ventus. The thing was featureless, white as fresh linen, and almost looked the texture of it. Riku blanched looking at the thing; thankfully, most of it was clothed in local Radiant Garden attire, so the only exposed skin- or whatever it did have- was the face and head.

Riku tilted Braveheart, trying to push the soul over to its intended destination. “Come on, Vanitas,” he said gently. “Home.”

The orb seemed to understand and stopped resisting. One more sideways push and the soul dropped down into the replica, sparking with light as the magicks worked their way through. In a few short minutes, the skin had darkened, hair sprouted and fell in thick spikes, and distinct facial features began to express themselves on the formerly blank canvas. A hand pulled itself out from under the sheet, rubbing at eyes as a nose twitched.

“Wake me up in twelve hours,” Vanitas whined. “I’m going back to bed.”

Ienzo rapped him on the head with his tablet computer. “Oh no you’re not, Mister, I need to make sure everything’s working as intended. If you can sit up, do so.”

“And now I get bossed around. **_Typical_** ,” Vanitas groaned without much bite. Carefully he shuffled. “Everything’s stiff. ‘S like the last time Grandfather Control Freak threw me in one of these.”

Riku offered an arm to help pull him up, before just yanking him up like he was trying to arrange a sack of potatoes. A grumbling one, at that.

Vanitas begrudgingly leaned into Riku’s chest for support, head lolling a bit. He blinked a few times, as his eyes began to focus. “I promised you a thank-you, so this is the only one you’re getting. **_Thankyou_** ,” Vanitas sighed as Riku laughed. “Also… what in Lux’s name am I **_wearing_**?”


End file.
